The advancement of therapies for cardiovascular diseases has the common goal of deterring a disease with increasing prevalence in the world. Current therapies range from administering drugs to control blood pressure to surgery for heart transplants. One overriding goal is to develop treatment for cardiovascular diseases through the emerging and promising field of stem cell research. The simultaneous education acquired by becoming a physician scientist provides relevant medical background and research experience to address cardiovascular disease. Working in a lab using gene transfer to manipulate protein expression as a mode of treatment for congestive heart failure and working in a lab to identify factors that influence brain development, have provided a plan to study and identify factors influencing heart development as a way to harness the regenerative capabilities of stem cells for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases. [unreadable] [unreadable] [unreadable]